President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has ratified the Bill on Maldives Media Council, passed by the People‚Äôs Majlis on 27th October. Following yesterday's ratification, the Bill has been published in the Government Gazette.The Media Council consists of 8 members from the media and 7 members from the general public.
Maldives Media Council is an independent, self regulatory body having powers to prosecute on its own behalf, to engage and conduct its own business as well as having powers to make out of court settlements in relation to complaints against media.
The objective of the Maldives Media Council is to establish and preserve the freedom of media in the Maldives; to keep under review matters contravening this freedom and taking remedial measures; to build up a code of practice and a code of conduct for the people working in the media; to ensure people working in the media behave responsibly and ethically; and to conduct inquiries into complaints filed with the Council concerning abuse of rights.